Red Sox Journal: Bradley could see less playing time with Betts on roster

Sunday

Jun 29, 2014 at 9:48 PM

NEW YORK — Mookie Betts’ closest friend on the Red Sox is the guy who figures to be affected the most by Betts’ arrival: Jackie Bradley Jr.Both members of Boston’s 2011 draft class, Bradley and Betts...

By TIM BRITTON

NEW YORK — Mookie Betts’ closest friend on the Red Sox is the guy who figures to be affected the most by Betts’ arrival: Jackie Bradley Jr.

Both members of Boston’s 2011 draft class, Bradley and Betts roomed together for about three weeks in the instructional league that fall. They quickly became friends, and when Betts arrived at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, he and Bradley spent some time chatting on the field.

“Me and Jackie kind of have a history,” said Betts, who started Sunday night’s game in right field. “We weren’t talking too much about baseball. We were talking about life.”

“I think that’s just the bond you form, how close you get when you’re around someone that long,” said Bradley. “We were very similar — kind of quiet-natured, and we definitely had a lot of good times and a lot of laughs.”

A year ago, Bradley was in Betts’ position, cameras and reporters all around him as he prepared to make his major-league debut at Yankee Stadium. He didn’t worry too much, though, about giving Betts advice.

“He’s smooth. He’s calm and collected. That’s the Mookie I’ve always known,” said Bradley. “We, as ballplayers, just focus on doing our job and letting all that take care of itself. If you play well, everything goes well. If you play bad, you figure it out and have to grow as a person from it.”

Betts’ promotion looks as if it will cut into Bradley’s playing time. Manager John Farrell said he’d look to play Betts in center and right field — his two new positions — while rotating players around. At the very least, Bradley won’t be the everyday guy anymore.

“I don’t know. I don’t really worry about that,” Bradley said. “I just do what I have to do and focus on the things I can control.”

The Red Sox are roughly a week away from getting Mike Carp back, as well. By that point, might they consider something as drastic as a demotion for Bradley, who entered Saturday hitting .209?

“I actually think that there’s been some good signs from Jackie on the road trip,” general manager Ben Cherington said. “His at-bats have looked more competitive. He clearly made an adjustment. Obviously the defense is great.”

Bradley is 7-for-27 on the road trip, and he’s drastically cut down on his strikeouts since reopening his stance.

“We’re trying to put the best team out there night in and night out,” Cherington continued. “We believe that right now that’s with Jackie and Mookie on it, and there’s a way to do this where everyone is playing. That doesn’t mean everyone is playing every night, but everyone is playing a lot. We’ll just see where we go. We know we have to get better.”

Shuffle game

With Betts making his major-league debut in right field, Brock Holt was shifted to third base, giving Xander Bogaerts the day off.

Farrell has discussed cycling five players (Betts, Holt, Bogaerts, Stephen Drew and Bradley) for four starting spots (third base, shortstop, center field and right field). Bogaerts sat on Sunday.

The rookie, who ended May on a torrid stretch, has hit just .140 with a .182 on-base percentage in the month of June. He entered the month with a .397 on-base percentage; it stands at .331 entering Sunday.

“His timing is off,” Farrell said. “There are some things that are tangibly different right now than when he was in a stretch where he was [hitting] the baseball with regularity. That is being addressed in early work, in regular BP. While it’s being accomplished more readily at that speed, game speed is where some of the reverting back is taking place.

“It’s not about talent or commitment to work; it’s the execution at game speed.”

Bogaerts’ prolonged slump has more or less coincided with his move to third base. Nevertheless, Farrell said it “has nothing to do with positions.”

Peavy saga

It’s been a strange week for Jake Peavy.

Ever since he was roughed up Tuesday in Seattle, Peavy has been subjected to speculation that his spot in the rotation was in jeopardy. Trade rumors surrounded the right-hander, with the Red Sox perhaps looking to create room for the since-optioned Rubby De La Rosa.

Peavy, though, hasn’t thought much about all that.

“Honestly, I don’t get caught up in it. I don’t pay any attention. You can’t do that in this game,” he said on Sunday. “You’re never as good as you think you are, and you’re never as bad as you think you are, so I don’t get caught up in anything anyone’s saying. I don’t read it. It’s not healthy for being that consistent guy who comes to work every day and does all he can do.”

That said, Peavy understands he hasn’t performed up to par.

“You certainly have bosses and you certainly understand there are consequences for all your actions in the game,” he said. “At the end of the day, you can’t worry about that. You’ve got to put your head down and work. That’s the way I’ve tried to do it most all of these 13 years.”

Peavy feels he’s closer to success than recent results might indicate. Each game, it seems, has come down to the one or two at-bats that he’s let get away from him, and he’s paid the price. Kyle Seager’s three-run homer last time out in Seattle serves as a prime example.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “I’ve got to catch some breaks and just be more consistent. Just try to make as many quality pitches as I can make. When you do that, you enhance your chances of the ball not being hit hard with a better chance to defend it.”

Farrell would like to see Peavy change speeds better, mixing in more of his secondary offerings to play off his fastball and cutter.

Colbrunn to return

Hitting coach Greg Colbrunn will return to the Red Sox on Monday, much sooner than expected after suffering a brain aneurysm in Cleveland on June 4.

Colbrunn has been medically cleared and is back in Boston, awaiting the team’s upcoming homestand.

Farrell said it wasn’t clear yet whether Colbrunn would assume all his old responsibilities right away. Minor-league hitting instructor Tim Hyers, who joined the major-league staff with Colbrunn away from the team, will remain with the Red Sox for the time being.

“The one thing we’re trying to get a better gauge on is the endurance inside of a given day, how many hours on his feet,” Farrell said. “There’s going to be a gradual buildup back to that.”

The Boston offense has struggled mightily without Colbrunn, scoring 63 runs in 22 games since he was sidelined.

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